by David Stevenson

That should say "Cyclemotors in Holland" but whether it does,
I'm not quite sure *. This illustrates
one of my problems in writing this "What I Saw on My Holiday"
essay. It's easy to get by in the Netherlands without any
Dutch since almost everybody speaks some English (although we
were clever enough to find two or three who didn't); it's harder
to be sure that you have really understood what you've
seen. Everything I am about to say should therefore be
taken with 0.5 grammes of sodium chloride.

In my view cyclemotoring is holding up better in the
Netherlands than it is in France (or at least the North of France
which is the only bit I've visited recently). In France
moped riding appears to be restricted nowadays to the young, the
poor and the eccentric. In Holland, however, the new
generation of cyclemotors powered by the Sachs Saxonette
motor-wheel appears to be attracting the middle-aged and the
elderly of a broader social group, allowing them to continue
using their bicycles for shorter journeys. We camped near
an affluent suburb of Utrecht and were very pleasantly surprised
to see obviously quite wealthy people using bicycles in this
manner.

I picked up the Sparta bicycle brochure, and while I can't
tell you what it says about these cyclemotors, I can give you
some idea of prices. The 'Spartamet', a standard Dutch type
sit-up-and-beg with the Sachs power unit will cost you 1869
Gilders (£655.79, €848.11) and is available in three
styles: man's, lady's with deeply stepped frame tube or lady's
parallel frame tubes. The De Luxe version of any of these
is fl 1969 (£690.88, €893.49). These
machines are hand started with a cable pull like an
outboard. The Rolls-Royce of the Sparta range with electric
start will cost you fl 2569 (£901.40,
€1165.76). We saw a secondhand basic model for sale at
fl 750 (£263.16, €340.34).

If you fancy something a little more unconventional then the
Sparta 'Rabbit' is right up your cycle track. Available in
a natty two tone colour scheme, the Rabbit has a 20 inch front
wheel and the 26 inch Sachs rear wheel. The extra space
over the front wheel is taken up by a lightweight wire basket and
there is that little platform above the pedal bracket for putting
your feet up on so beloved of Continental riders. A Rabbit
will set you back fl 2019 (£708.42 €916.18) The
bike I want Santa to squeeze down my chimney this Xmas is however
the Tandemet. A double ladies' tandem in two tone grey with
the Sachs unit for a back wheel. This will set my Mum and
Dad back fl 2599 (€1595.12, £9ll.93 - all
sterling equivalents calculated on the basis of fl 2.85 to
the pound courtesy of Mrs J B Smith, the maths
adviser, using one calculator, the backs of three A4 envelopes,
ten fingers and ten toes. Yes folks, she really did take
her shoes and socks off.)

We saw several other interesting cyclemotors in Holland.
Outside a cycle shop in Enkhuizen we examined a true modern
autocycle, the Italjet 'Tiffany'. Its moped engine is
attached to the bottom bracket of a lady's type bicycle
frame. The tank is in the space behind the saddle tube and
the upper chainstays. The forks are of a bicycle type but
end in short leading links. An attractive machine with a
practical air, its classic silver-grey appearance was belied by
such items as the chaincase which was plastic.

The most unusual cyclemotors we saw were the Apollo
trucks. Three-wheelers, with a large open box mounted on
two small wheels, they are propelled from behind by half a
moped. The design is based on a similar carrier bicycle
which is on show in many Dutch museums. The Apollo is much
like the old Dot carrier which used a Villiers 125cc
engine. Steering is by a bar on the back of the truck body
and the engine is fan-cooled, presumably to aid its over-stressed
working surfaces. We saw a couple of these derelict and a
real beauty selling ice cream outside the RijksMuseum in
Amsterdam. Later we saw it travelling home with the
ice-cream salesman and his assistant mounted on the moped
part.

They seemed a very civilised people, the Dutch. One does
not see the huge waste of land and resources that we in the
semi-derelict industrial North of England, with its acres of
blighted ex-industrial land left to rot, suffer from so
badly. That efficiency has had its effect on their
transport system which seemed much more on its way to becoming a
properly integrated structure with good facilities for both
bicycle and moped users. Not only is there a designated
system of cycle and moped tracks but also these tracks have their
own signposting system giving directions and distances.
Where there are not designated tracks then cyclists and
cyclemotorists are often directed onto quieter back roads which
again are properly signposted. Larger motorcycles have to
use the ordinary road system but, since there are an awful lot of
Harley-Davidsons about, whatever kind of two-wheeler you are
interested in, you come back from Holland dead jealous.

First published - December 1993
Prices in Euros added in December 2001

* [David's brave attempt at Dutch
was not quite right. The correct literal translation of
'Cyclemotors in the Netherlands' would be 'Bromfietsen in
Nederland', but it is better translated to 'Nederlandse
Bromfietsen'. My thanks to Bas Vossen for this lesson in
Dutch syntax. - Editor]